9th Circuit Pops Seattle's Efforts to Regulate Balloon Artist
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Seattle’s efforts to regulate balloon artist “Magic Mike” Berger and other street performers violates the First Amendment.
In a 7-4 split, the appeals court found that the city’s rules requiring performers to obtain permits to operate at the Seattle Center are too broad and unconstitutional, the Seattle Times reports.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, which filed a brief in support of Berger, hailed the decision and noted that the ruling was particularly significant because it held that the Seattle Center is a park where speech is protected.
The en banc decision (PDF) reinstates a trial judge’s ruling that the permit rules for center street performers were unconstitutional. A three-member panel reversed that ruling in January 2008.
Rules required Berger and other performers to pay $5 for a permit, be limited to a single location on the 80-acre center property and solicit donations rather than charge for his balloon creations. The rules were part of a city effort to crack down on overly aggressive performers. But Berger found the rules too constricting and sued.
Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond in Richmond, Va., tells the Times that the issue could head to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“This is a very strong First Amendment ruling, and it makes it very hard for municipalities to craft rules to address the behavior of individuals in public places,” he said.
Indeed, the dissent, led by Judge Alex Kozinski, noted that, “If the majority here is right, then Seattle and other municipalities hoping to use their parks to promote civic virtue, neighborliness, hospitality and the peaceful enjoyment of the arts cannot possibly draft a set of rules that will protect visitors, concessionaires and other artists from overly aggressive street performers.”
